Diplomatic Education

Description:

What is the professional expertise needed by a diplomat? One should not be surprised that understanding of societal affairs and economics is more important as a knowledge base than the theory of international relations.

Kishan S. Rana, DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR, INDIA

Source:

e-Diplomacy Library

Author:

Kishan Rana

Year:

2007

Resource text:

What is the professional expertise needed by a diplomat? One should not be surprised that understanding of societal affairs and economics is more important as a knowledge base than the theory of international relations.

‘Diplomatic Education’ was published as Chapter 11 in: An Anthology Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of the Higher Colleges of Technology, ed. Tayeb A Kamali, (HCT Press, UAE, 2007).

It begins:

In most countries, those selected for the diplomatic service are
elites. This does not refer to their social background — in fact
in almost all countries a democratization process is evident, in
terms of the economic groups and the educational institutions to
which the new entrants belong. They are elites because behind each
young man or woman who wins the coveted appointment, stand
dozens, or in some countries, even several hundreds, of unsuccessful
applicants. Despite all the diversification in job opportunities that
has taken place in our globalizing world, and the opening up of
career avenues that did not exist a decade or two back, representing
one’s country abroad remains a coveted honor, attracting the best
and the brightest in virtually every country that has an open,
competitive selection process.

What kind of higher education is the best preparation for a career
in a diplomatic service? Is there a particular kind of discipline that is
best suited to produce envoys? What are the needs for professional
training for diplomats, at the stage of induction, and later on, as the
individual’s career progresses?

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